News   Why The Network? (03/26/2997) Even though I loved youth ministry, I was faced with many frustrating and challenging situations, which made me question whether I wanted to stay in this career. From my time at monthly meetings and Extravaganzas, I found people that dealt with the same issues in their churches. I found a renewed passion for youth ministry by surrounding myself with other energetic youth ministry professionals! Full Story   E-VO (12/18/2206) Trust in the Promise. . . Full Story   E-VO (06/19/2020) You can change the world . . . Full Story   ELCA Youth Ministry Network Releases 10th Annual Salary Survey Results (05/19/2008) Long Term Trend Shows Gradual Growth; Results for the last year are flat Full Story   E-VO (05/11/2008) Swimming upstream. . . Full Story   E-VO (05/05/2008) A Little Breath. . . Full Story   E-VO (04/28/2008) Peace be with You. . . Full Story   E-VO (04/21/2008) An Open Invitation. . . Full Story   E-V0 (04/14/2008) Cheering for Tiger. . . Full Story   E-VO (04/06/2008) Living into God's Story . . . Full Story   E-VO (03/30/2008) Cheering for the Underdog. . . Full Story   E-VO (03/24/2008) A Christmasy Easter. . . Full Story   E-VO (03/17/2008) Take time to be Amazed. . . Full Story   E-VO (03/10/2008) The Older Brother. . . Full Story   Success Story (03/03/2008) Sky Ranch Full Story   E-VO (03/02/2008) The Prodigal Continues: Welcome Home. . . Full Story   E-VO (02/25/2008) Remembering Whose We Are. . . Full Story   E-VO (02/18/2008) Journeying with the Prodigal, Part I. . . Full Story   E-VO (02/11/2008) Ignite. . . Full Story   asfdkasf;d (02/10/2008) faskljfads;jkl Full Story   TGIF: Tech Geek Informationl Feature: Going Wireless (02/04/2008) This week I'll try to shed some light on another user-submitted question: What's the easiest (maybe cheapest) way to get wi-fi into the further parts of our building? With concrete walls and steel infrastructure, the LinkSys wireless-G 2.4 GHz system never worked even between our offices which are all in a row on one side of a hallway. So we went to hard-wiring. I'd love it if I could use my laptop in the youth room which is in the basement of another wing of the building -- but even better would be if anyone could use their laptops in whatever part of the building we were in. Full Story   E-VO (02/04/2008) The Main Event. . . Full Story   TGIF: Tech Geek Informational Feature (01/28/2008) Offsite Back-ups. . ., Full Story   E-VO (01/28/2008) Great Expectations. . . Full Story   TGIF: Tech Geek Informational Feature (01/27/2008) I received this question from an ELCA Youth Ministry Network Member in Kansas: What's the easiest way to do backups that will be stored offsite? We aren't doing any! (arrgh!) Kudos for realizing that you should be doing backups! So should I and so should everyone else. I do backup some things, but I am not as attentive to it as I should be. This was a challenging question for me because I haven't paid as much attention to is as I should. So I am not able to make one good recommendation, but I will point out a couple of options. My current backup practice is redundancy. I keep things on my UFDs (see last week's post), on multiple computers at the office, and on a variety of online places. What else could I do? What else could you do? Full Story   TGIF: Tech Geek Informational Feature (01/21/2008) Flash Drives Full Story   E-VO (01/21/2008) Knit Together. . . Full Story   E-VO (01/14/2008) P.S. - I Love You. . . Full Story   TGIF: Tech Geek's Informational Feature (01/07/2008) So, you got a new computer for Christmas, or with that end-of-year budget surplus? Congratulations! But now you've spent the whole budget and you've discovered that your new computer comes with a trial version of Microsoft Office, which is going to stop working in 60, 59, 58, 57...days... Full Story   E-VO (01/06/2008) Goodbye Dear Friend. . . Full Story   E-VO (12/31/2007) Everything Changes. . . Full Story   E-VO (12/17/2007) Singing Together. . . Full Story   TGIF: Tech Geek's Informational Feature (12/17/2007) I do some of my best thinking and planning while I'm driving. Good (and some not-so-good) ideas pop into my head...then I lose them before I commit them to long term memory...Enter Jott, a free service that transcribes voice to text and sends it to a variety of places... Full Story   E-VO (12/16/2007) Shopocalypse. . . Full Story   TGIF: Tech Geek's Informational Feature (12/10/2007) What are you up to? Whatcha doing? Busy? I was late to the whole blogging game and late to the miniblog game as well. I've been playing with Twitter for just a short amount of time and I find it an interesting exercise in sharing what I'm up to throughout the day. Sometimes I only update it once a day and sometimes more frequently. Probably no one even cares! But maybe there are folks in your youth flock that do find it interesting. Full Story   E-VO (12/10/2007) Light in the Darkness. . . Full Story   TGIF: Tech Geek's Informational Feature (12/03/2007) We firmly believe that "everybody needs a geek." Who do you call when you need your computer hard drive cleaned out? You call your geek! We're introducing a new regular feature: TGIF. With tips, info and question answering... This week's feature: The giant world of Google. Full Story   E-VO (11/19/2007) You've got to Deliver. . . Full Story   E-VO (11/12/2007) Faithful Friends Full Story   One Board Member Re-Elected & One New Member (11/11/2007) Dr. Nathan Frambach was re-nominated to serve on the ELCA Youth Ministry Network's Board of Directors. Yvonne Steindal, of Kansas City, was elected to fill an open seat Full Story   E-VO (11/05/2007) All the Saints. . . Full Story   E-VO (10/29/2007) Oh the Places You'll Go. . . Full Story   E-VO (10/22/2007) Running the Race. . . Full Story   Things I've Learned (10/22/2007) Tips from Youth Ministers Full Story   E-VO (10/15/2007) It's Not Up to Me. . . Full Story   E-VO (10/08/2007) Tithing for Teens? Full Story   E-VO (10/01/2007) Where your heart is. . . Full Story   Remembering Rev. Carol Scott (09/27/2007) It is with great sadness for loss, and hope in the resurrection, that we want to let you know of the death of Rev. Carol Scott. Pastor Carol was one of our keynote speakers at the ELCA Youth Ministry Extravaganza in Tampa, Florida last February. Pastor Carol died early Tuesday morning, September 25, 2007. Full Story   E-VO (09/24/2007) Breaking in . . . Full Story   E-VO (09/17/2007) Focus . . . Full Story   E-VO (09/10/2007) Empty. . . Full Story   E-VO (08/27/2007) The Results are In. . . Full Story   E-VO (08/13/2007) Resurrection. . . Full Story   E-VO (07/30/2007) Living Life Abundantly . . . Full Story   E-VO (07/16/2007) Dance Like No one is Watching . . . Full Story   E-VO (07/02/2007) The mission continues. . . Full Story   E-VO (06/11/2007) Imagine. . . Full Story   E-VO (06/04/2007) Moving on . . . Full Story   In Memory and Celebration: Rev. Daryl Koenig (06/02/2007) It is with great sadness that we write to inform you of the death of Rev. Daryl Koenig. Daryl died on the morning of Thursday, May 31, 2007. Full Story   E-VO (05/28/2007) Weeding. . . Full Story   E-VO (05/21/2007) Resurrection Amidst the Flames. . . Full Story   Why the Network? (05/14/2007) It’s a Homecoming! I recently attended the funeral of my great uncle Albert. This side of my family is loud, rowdy and one I didn’t take my husband to visit until after we were safely engaged! I didn’t want to scare him off... Full Story   E-VO (05/14/2007) Happy Mother's Day Full Story   E-VO (05/07/2007) What Teens Want. . . Full Story   Why The Network? (04/30/2007) My first gathering of the Network (the Las Vegas Extravaganza in 1996) felt a lot like...a Reunion. I knew a handful of participants, but for the rest, we were related, but not connected personally or professionally. But this is my family, wether I know everyone or not. It’s a part of a larger “Martin & Katherine Luther Reunion” (which is a part of a larger-still “Yahweh Reunion”). Full Story   E-VO (04/30/2007) We're All Israelites. . . Full Story   Why the Network? (04/23/2007) I’ve resisted being involved in youth ministry most of my life. I’m four feet ten inches tall and at age 36 – for better or for worse – I can still pass as a teen. While I grew up as a minority in the south, I still lived a pretty privileged childhood. But I still don’t relish revisiting those years. Why in the world would I want to hang around with youth, a group of folk still experiencing the overwhelming rush of so many competing and conflicting impulses? Full Story   E-VO (04/23/2007) The Revolutionary Gospel. . . Full Story   E-VO (04/16/2007) Doing Justice. . . Full Story   Why The Network (04/16/2007) Men and women I sat in awe of in those early days, I am now blessed to sit side-by-side with as we discuss the ministry that we all share. I have read books I would have never read, traveled to ministry sites in countries I wouldn’t dared to have tred, and attempted ministries I wouldn’t dared to have attempted, all because of the strength and encouragement of peers I met through this network. Full Story   E-VO (04/09/2007) After the Hallelujah's. . ." Full Story   E-VO (04/02/2007) I am the Way . . . Full Story   E-VO (03/26/2007) Praise the Lord. . . Full Story   Network: A Call to Prayer (03/26/2007) There is a powerful and vital new ELCA youth and family ministry forming in New Orleans that is desperately in need of help. There is a Network member, a colleague and a friend who is urgently in need of our support. Full Story   Why The Network? (03/19/2007) What do you need? Ask yourself that question today? It is an important question that many, possibly most, people in youth ministry forget to ask themselves. This is not a question about the next best youth ministry resource that you think you need. This is a question about you. Seriously, what do you need? Full Story   Why The Network? (03/12/2007) I need a community where people are real, get what I’m doing and celebrate God’s presence with those in the first third of life…and all those who accompany them. The Youth Ministry Network welcomes me into relationships with people with whom I can be honest, speak of my hurt, celebrate life and dance with God. I cherish the deep and abiding friendships and collegial relationships that enrich my life today because the “town square” of the network and the “state fair” of the Extravaganza brought them into my life. Full Story   E-VO (03/11/2007) "Focus. . ." Full Story   Trinity Lutheran College to Offer Y&F Scholarships (03/05/2007) Trinity Lutheran College has announced a new scholarship program that will give $27,000 awards to top-notch students pursuing youth and family ministry. Who might you encourage to apply? The half-tuition scholarship will be awarded to two students entering in Fall 2007. Full Story   "Why The Network" (03/05/2007) People in an African village purchased a television set. For weeks all of the children and all of the adults gathered around the set morning, afternoon, and night watching the programs. Then after a couple of months the set was turned off and never used again. A visitor to the village asked the chief. “Why do you no longer watch television?” We have decided to listen to the storytellers,” he replied. Full Story   E-VO (03/05/2007) Amazing Grace. . . Full Story   E-VO (02/26/2007) Thirsting for God Full Story   Why The Network? (02/26/2007) The Lone Ranger. That is the nickname my pastor has given to me, after working together for some 5 years now. He often remarks how I do things on my own, with little support from others in my church family...Enter the ELCA Youth Ministry Network. Full Story   Extravagznza 2008 Dates Shift (02/22/2007) The 2008 Extravaganza will be held February 7-11, 2008, one week later than originally publicized. Full Story   E-VO (02/19/2007) Gilmore Girls: The Devotion Full Story   Why The Network? (02/19/2007) Not only has The Network supported me in my ministry but it has also afforded me the opportunity to live out my calling to be a servant... I have been blessed over and over by the continued support throughout the year by the friendships that I have made due to The Network. Full Story   Susan Pursch - Tom Hunstad Award Honoree - Responds (02/19/2007) I just wanted to thank you and the ELCA Youth Ministry Network for the honor you bestowed upon me receiving the Tom Hunstad Award at the Extravaganza this year. I was so honored and I hope you will truly express my appreciation to the Board for this honor. I had an excellent time back in the "youth ministry" energy. The incredible dedication of the adults who continue to work with and love young people... Full Story   Why The Network? (02/12/2007) That's what this Network is: a place where people from different ministry settings can share their journeys. And when they share of themselves, they do so to the benefit and support of others, often times not realizing how they are passing on grace and faith. Full Story   E-VO (02/05/2007) Weary and Heavy Burdened . . . Full Story   Why The Network? (01/29/2007) Why the Network? Well, I need all the things that the network provides. I need Extravaganza. I need people who I can reach out to whenever and wherever I find myself in the ELCA. I need an organization that is out there helping to make sure that the voice of people doing youth ministry in churches today is being heard. Full Story   E-VO (01/29/2007) Why Me. . . Full Story   Why The Network? (01/22/2007) A few years ago, I lost my job after a very ugly church situation. I had been in youth ministry for 27 years, and never thought it could happen to me. I personally didn’t have the resources to attend the Extravaganza that year, so I very humbly applied for and was granted a scholarship to attend. It was there that I found my network… Not only did I have the backing, the understanding, and the hearts of these dear friends, but practically speaking, I also was able to “network” and make contacts for perspective future jobs and interviews, and to receive tons of insight along the way... Full Story   E-VO (01/22/2007) The Promise of the Commandments. . ." Full Story   Why The Network? (01/15/2007) ...I stumble across a real gift to the church, the ELCA Youth Ministry Network. I received an invitation to speak at the 7th? Annual Extravaganza in Houston, Texas, and found a diverse group of people who like me, were passionate about youth and family ministry. They came together each year, in cities across the country to share, network, learn, pray, play, fellowship and make new acquaintances. Full Story   Why The Network? (01/08/2007) When people ask me why I’m a youth worker, I say because of the Holy Spirit. It’s a powerful calling. In the midst of this crazy thing we call ministry, one of the things I have depended on most to carry me through is other people doing youth ministry. Whether it was sharing youth Bible Study ideas or a bowl of mint chocolate chip ice cream, I have relied on my friends in this ministry... Full Story   E-VO (01/08/2007) Throw out those resolutions . . . Full Story   The Youth and Family Institute is Growing! (01/01/2007) The Youth and Family Institute is expanding its programs and ministry, including a new focus on wellness and on milestone ministry, new staff members, a shift in roles for Dr. Dick Hardel and the national search for a new Executive Director. Full Story   Why The Network? (12/18/2006) I can do youth ministry without the Network. I know, because for half my career I did. I had my niche, and knew what I needed to know to get the job done. But the Network opens my eyes to see what is beyond my familiar territory...I am challenged and stretched to grow beyond what I can be alone. I am better for it, my ministry is deeper because of it, and most importantly, the youth and adults I work with see Christ more clearly. Full Story   Why The Network? (12/11/2006) My senior pastor yelled after me, "Don't let the door hit you on the way out." The first argument I ever had with my pastor was a doozey and you have probably guessed – this was about money. More specifically, it was about my salary... Full Story   E-VO (12/11/2006) And it came to pass. . . Full Story   Why The Network? (12/04/2006) The Network offers what is so crucial for each one of us: superb opportunities for renewal, top-notch workshops and conferences for continuing education, and the means of connecting with others who are in similar ministry settings. This is what sustains ministry. Full Story   E-VO (12/04/2006) What are you waiting for . . . Full Story   E-VO (11/27/2006) Seeing Jesus. . . Full Story   E-VO (11/20/2006) An attitude of gratitude. . . Full Story   Traveling to Tampa for Less! (11/17/2006) Getting to the Extravaganza can be Expensive. Here are some ideas to save you money! Full Story   Why The Network? (11/17/2006) "To be surrounded by hundreds of Youth Directors and Youth Pastors who had come together was a very empowering experience." Full Story   E-VO (11/06/2006) Saints and Sinners. . . Full Story   E-VO (10/30/2006) Expressions of Faith . . . Full Story   Why The Network? (10/28/2006) "What I want to say is fairly simple and straightforward: I believe that this network matters." Full Story   Network Directory Released (10/27/2006) The ELCA Youth Ministry Network releases its October, 2006 Membership Directory in PDF format. Full Story   ELCA Seeks Director of Youth Ministry (10/25/2006) The Vocation and Education unit of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America is seeking a Director for Youth Ministry. Full Story   E-VO (10/23/2006) Loving in truth and action . . . Full Story   E-VO (10/16/2006) What can we say . . . Full Story   E-VO (10/09/2006) Ups and Downs . . . Full Story   E-VO (10/01/2006) Faith and Doubt. . . Full Story   E-VO (09/25/2006) Sharing our Stories. . . Full Story   A Gift and a Challenge (09/21/2006) The ELCA Youth Ministry has received a gift of $15,000 to begin an endowment for the Tom Hunstad Scholarship Fund from "Old Lutheran." They have also issued a "matching grant challenge" for the members of the Network. Full Story   E-VO (09/18/2006) The Power of our Words. . . Full Story   E-VO (09/11/2006) Praise the Lord Full Story   E-VO (09/04/2006) May Christ Go with You . . . Full Story   E-VO (08/28/2006) Coming down the Mountain. . .i> Full Story   E-VO (08/21/2006) Rest in Jesus. . . Full Story   E-VO (08/14/2006) Images of God. . . Full Story